Confined Innocence
by Ilovetoread09
Summary: A tiger isn't what Castle and Beckett find behind the wall. "Cuffed" AU.


AN: So, this is for Alex on castlefanfics on tumblr and Lou, who urged me to write this. Hope you guys enjoy it! Anyway, thanks to Kylie for being an awesome beta. As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

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With one final kick of her leg, the wall came crumbling down in a cloud of dust. Kate panted, drawing her leg up against her, both hands wrapping around her knee.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out as she and Castle peered into the darkness. She furrowed her eyebrows as they heard sniffling come from inside the room and glancing at each other, the duo carefully crawled a little further into the opened room, still conscious of the cuffs that linked them together.

"Hello?" Kate called again, squinting through the black. Suddenly, she heard the sound of feet dragging across the floor. A moment later, a girl appeared from the darkness, stopping right in front of them.

"W-who are you?" she asked the pair, looking at them warily with her blue eyes.

"I'm Detective Beckett. This is my partner Richard Castle." She gestured to Castle with her free hand. "What's your name?"

"Lily," the girl answered slowly, caution of etching the lines of her face as she eyed them.

"How did you get here?" Castle asked her gently.

Kate looked at the girl carefully, realizing she didn't have to ask why Lily was trapped. The pair of black boy shorts and a bodice made of lace told an unfortunate story, and Lily's feet, bare and covered in dirt, the bruises on her torso, her face tracked with the remnants of tears, only added further proof.

"Some guy asked me for directions from his car and I stupidly went to help him. I was telling him where to go when I felt a pain in my neck and then everything went black." Lily frowned. "How did you get here?"

"We were investigating a murder," Kate explained. "We went to this house and saw a woman in a cage. Next thing we know, we're here." She lifted their wrists to show the girl their current situation. "Who was in the room with you earlier?"

Lily shrugged. "Just some men, I don't know their names. They were coming to look at the _merchandise_." Her tone was bitter and Kate could see tears forming in her eyes.

"How old are you?" Castle questioned with a frown, concern and sadness bleeding from every part of him, until washed across the room in waves. The girl looked young, probably no more than Alexis in age.

"I'm 16."

Castle closed his eyes at that and Kate saw him swallow, his hand tightening where he remained joined with hers. Squeezing back, she instilled all the comfort she could offer.

"I'm pretty sure they're going to buy me and then I'll never be found. Not that anyone is looking for me. I'm sure my parents have given up by now." Lily was crying, her head dipping forward as she tried to hide behind her black hair.

"Hey, it's okay," Castle said, but Lily continued sniffling, and giving Kate no option but to follow, he sat down on the concrete. "Come here." She looked at him suspiciously, but moving slowly, she did eventually sit down in front of them.

"Our friends will find us," Castle promised, but Lily shook her head.

"He's right, they will," Kate said with confidence, although an inkling of doubt nagged at her. "They would do anything to find us."

"Plus they would hate having to do all the paperwork," Castle chimed in, and this earned him a giggle from Lily. Kate turned toward her partner, a smile grading her lips; she knew exactly what he was trying to do.

"Plus God only knows what my captain would do to them," Kate joked, and this increased Lily's laughter, the sound ringing louder in the dark room.

"How long have you been here?" Kate asked, breaking the silence that had descended once again.

Lily sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Days, maybe weeks? I haven't been out the whole time. I get food through the door. Sometimes men visit, but I'm alone besides some men have to come to visit. I'm alone besides that." She cocked her head. "I hit one of them once, which how is I got these." She gestured to her bruises.

"Well, you hopefully won't have to worry about that much longer," Castle said. "Where are you from?" Kate smiled at the tender timbre in his voice as he tried to distract Lily.

"Manhattan. I was walking to the train when it happened." She sighed. "I can't believe I was so stupid!"

"It's okay," Kate soothed. "It can happen to the best of us." Her words were sincere; she knew that the girl had been just trying to help.

"Yeah, well, with the way things are going, I'm not going to Stanford." She snorted.

"Stanford? My daughter wants to go there. She's a little older than you actually. You remind me a little of her." Lily raised an eyebrow. "I'm serious! I really do have a daughter, her name is Alexis."

"It's true. She helps keep him in his place," Kate joked. Castle pouted, resulting in a giggle from Lily as she eyed them both.

"Are you two together?"

"No," the replied in unison. However, Kate could hear the disappointment in both of their voices.

"Really? Feels like you are," Lily replied with a raised eyebrow. She then looked at Castle, seeming to scrutinize him. "You look familiar."

"I write mystery novels, maybe you've heard of me?" he answered, giving a cocky grin

Lily furrowed her eyebrows and then snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! My mom reads your books. Unfortunately, I'm not the into mysteries, sorry."

Castle chuckled. "It's okay. I know my books aren't everyone's cup of tea."

"She loves you books. I think she has a little crush on you." She rolled her eyes.

Kate smiled. Lily reminded her of herself when she used to talk about her mother reading Castle's books all those years ago.

"Well, I am quite handsome," he said playfully, and Kate couldn't prevent the snicker from escaping.

"You'll have to forgive him; he's quite full of himself. Luckily I keep him in line."

"Are you sure you two aren't lying to me about being together?"

"Trust me, we're not," Castle said wryly.

"You should get on that then, once we get out of this place, hopefully." Kate could see the uncertainty in the girl's eyes, but it vanished quickly. "Actually, on the chance that we don't, why don't you just hook up right here?" Lily seemed excited at the prospect.

"Er, no, that's not going to happen, right now." Kate could've sworn Castle's eyes widen as she said it. "Plus, it's a little hard to move with these things." She shook the cuffs for effect.

Lily pouted. "Okay."

Castle chuckled before his expression turned serious again. "Did they say anything about us?"

Lily pursed her lips. "I think so. The men asked if there was anyone else. One of the captor's said no. However, when the men left, the captors started arguing about showing them the other woman. I'm assuming they meant you." She looked at Kate.

Kate felt her hand get squeezed tighter and Castle's eyes narrowed, a frown on his face. She knew he was no longer contemplating how much _he_ cost.

"Relax," she murmured."I'm not going anywhere." She rubbed his hand with her thumb, trying to calm him down.

"I'll make sure of that," he muttered, his tone conveying that he would try to protect her.

Lily looked between the two of them before shrugging. "You guys are only fooling yourselves when it comes to not getting together." Her words danced between the three of them, the sing-song nature evident.

Kate shook her head, smirking. Soon, she hoped, soon. Suddenly, she heard the latch open, before a familiar voice call out.

"Beckett? Castle? Are you guys down there?" Ryan asked.

The duo grinned at each other and Lily's eyes widened.

"Yeah, we're down here, Ryan," Kate shouted back. She and Castle got up and walked over to the opening trapdoor high above them, coming face to face with the other half of her team.

"You guys okay?" Esposito asked.

"Yeah, we're fine, just a little chained up." Castle showed them the cuffs.

"Only you guys." Ryan chuckled.

"Yeah," Kate responded. She looked over at Lily and gestured for her to come forward. "Guys, there's someone else here with us." Once she came into sight, Espo and Ryan's eyes widened.

"Well, hello there." Esposito gave the girl a friendly smile and Lily waved at him shyly.

"All right, we'll find a way to get you out. Hang tight." Ryan and Espo disappeared, obviously trying to figure out what to do.

"I'm free," Lily whispered, her eyes shone with happiness.

"Yes." Castle grinned at her. "You're going home."

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AN: There you have it. Thanks again to Kylie for the beta.


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